Civil War in The Republican Big Tent

While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was offering up his convoluted plan to save the GOP from itself, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) dug in his "no-deal with taxes" heels. The debt limit talks at the White House yesterday were characterized as a "blow-up" by republican talking heads. Cantor essentially suggested that President Obama is an intemperate, Angry Black Male. This from the Washington Post:

Those talks ended on an angry note when Obama and Cantor disagreed over the length of the proposed debt-ceiling increase. Cantor had been urging a short-term extension that would require Congress to vote a second time on the unpopular measure before the 2012 election. The president lectured about the need to drop political posturing, saying several times, “Enough is enough,” according to Democratic officials with knowledge of the closed-door meeting.

“The president told me, ‘Eric, don’t call my bluff. You know I’m going to take this to the American people,’ ” Cantor said. “He then walked out.”

But as he left, Obama added: “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

David Rogers at Politico continues:

A blow-up between Obama and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor at the end of Wednesday’s White House negotiating session captured the building tension. “He’s frustrated, we’re all frustrated,” Cantor said, describing the president as “abruptly walking out.” Democrats took a different slant: “He (Obama) lit up Eric Cantor like he’s never been lit up,” said one in the room.

 So Angry...So Black...So Liberal. 

It's been reported that Senator Harry Reid and some rank-and-file dems have embraced McConnell's plan as a compromise they're willing to accept in order to avoid default. This scheme has obvious benefits for congressional republicans. Obama is tasked with raising the debt-limit in increments, essentially through a procedural maneuver that is almost certain to require a veto of the nay votes sure to be cast by House republicans. McConnell argued on the Laura Ingraham radio show that if the Administration pivoted to this strategy, republicans will be able to remove the stain of current economic malaise; thus protecting the republican brand ahead of the 2012 election cycle.

Conversely, Cantor has continued to kowtow to the ultra-conservative, Tea Party faction in the House, and has in fact seemed to harden his official position in recent days. Rather than moving towards the center in reaching a compromise on the budget, Cantor has continuously attempted to frame the debate in terms of dramatic spending cuts, absent any new revenue (aka tax increases), that takes a hacksaw to so-called big government, no matter what the economic and social cost. The full faith and credit of the United States seems to take a backseat to Cantor's political posturing:

Critics said he has been petulant in his dealings with the White House, and in positioning himself to the political right of Boehner whenever possible. They point to him walking out on the Biden talks, dominating nearly a week’s worth of discussions with the president and congressional leaders and complaining about being kept in the dark on the Obama-Boehner talks.

“He lost a lot of credibility when he walked away from the table … It was childish,” said one House Republican with close ties to Cantor who spoke on condition of anonymity to preserve their friendship. “This is his time to perform.”

This sort of sick intransigence serves no one. But it begs the question. What is it about our unique political culture that gives rise to such white-knuckle brinkmanship?